An equivalency certificate UAE employers, universities and government departments accept is, for higher education, now formally a recognition decision by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR) confirming that a degree can be used in the country. School leavers have a parallel process run by the Ministry of Education. This guide sets out which body issues what, the legal basis, how verification works and the timing rules universities apply, as of October 2026.
What an equivalency certificate UAE authorities issue actually is
The UAE government portal describes the MoHESR University Qualifications Recognition service as a way to “verify qualifications issued from accredited higher education institutions outside the UAE”. The resulting report, the portal says, “serves as an official document for employment, further studies, visas and government services in the UAE”. That page was last updated on 22 October 2026.
The word equivalency survives in everyday use and on admissions pages. The American University of Sharjah tells applicants that “Issuing of Certificate Equivalency or a Qualification Recognition report is controlled fully by MOHESR”. The ministry’s own service is titled Recognition of university certificates issued from outside the UAE. In practice, when people ask for an equivalency certificate UAE institutions mean one of three things:
- recognition by MoHESR of a degree from a higher education institution outside the country;
- recognition by MoHESR of a degree from a UAE-based institution, increasingly granted automatically;
- equivalency of a secondary school certificate, issued by the Ministry of Education.
The legal basis: Ministerial Decree No. 34 of 2025
The equivalency certificate UAE rules for foreign degrees rest on Ministerial Decree No. (34) of 2025 Concerning the Recognition System for Higher Education Qualifications from Outside the Country, issued on 15 January 2025. It was signed by Dr Abdulrahman Abdulmannan Al Awar as Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation and Acting Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The English text on the ministry’s site carries the note “This is not an official translation”.
The decree defines recognition as verifying the authenticity of the qualification, ensuring the awarding institution is accredited, and confirming compliance with the national qualifications framework and the UAE’s educational system. A recognised qualification can then be used for employment, career progression, further studies or other relevant purposes. The decree repealed Ministerial Decision No. (155) of 2023, which governed the system before it.
Article 3 sets two general conditions for any equivalency certificate UAE recognition of a foreign degree. The qualification must be valid and the information in it accurate. The awarding institution must be legally established, licensed and accredited by the relevant accreditation authority in the country of qualification “at the time of issuance”. Article 4 allows the ministry to revoke a recognition later if it finds either condition was not met.
For institutions recruiting staff or admitting postgraduates, the revocation clause matters: a recognition is not permanent protection if the underlying degree or accreditation is later found to be defective.
How the Ministry of Higher Education equivalency process works
Annex 1 of the decree sets out the service track as a flowchart. A graduate seeking an equivalency certificate UAE recognition for a foreign degree applies and pays on the MoHESR website. The ministry then assesses the university and the country, and routes the request down one of three paths depending on what data links exist with the awarding institution:
- where MoHESR has a direct data sharing and recognition agreement with the university, recognition is granted;
- where the university or country has a degree authentication system, the ministry cross checks against approved and trusted accreditation agencies;
- where neither exists, the request goes to primary source verification entities through an application programming interface, and the verifier contacts the university to confirm validity.
Primary source verification returns a result and a country risk classification. An authentic degree from an accredited university in a low risk country goes straight to recognition. An authentic degree from a medium or high risk country is cross checked against accreditation agencies first. Where a fake degree is identified or the university is not accredited, the flowchart ends in rejection “with penalties and referral to law enforcement authorities in case of fraud”.
The decree and its annex do not state fees or processing times for the Ministry of Higher Education equivalency service, and the ministry’s public service card does not show them in text form.
What changed in 2025, in the ministry’s figures
MoHESR announced updated procedures for the equivalency certificate UAE graduates from abroad need on 28 April 2025 as part of the federal Zero Government Bureaucracy programme. It said the system now uses two unified standards across all specialisations and universities and is linked to local scholarship bodies. It reported these pilot results against the previous system:
| Measure | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Documents required | 14 | 4 |
| Students with recognised qualifications | 5,780 | 12,180 |
| Share of requests declined | 8.3% | 3.5% |
| Requirements overall | Reduced by more than 70% | |
The announcement did not name the four remaining documents. The ministry’s statement said the change simplifies “certificates recognition for employment”.
Automatic degree equivalency for UAE-based universities
Graduates of UAE-based institutions follow a separate track. In January 2026 MoHESR said 34 institutions had joined the first phase of an automatic recognition initiative, giving graduates “immediate recognition of their degrees” confirmed by “an approved QR code that officially confirms recognition”. It said more than 25,000 graduates had benefited since launch, and that the service would extend to Emirati students abroad on ministry-supervised scholarships.
By 8 April 2026 the list had grown to 38, with recognition granted “without submitting applications” through a “real-time integrated electronic system”. The 38 included federal institutions such as United Arab Emirates University, Zayed University and the Higher Colleges of Technology, private universities such as the American University of Sharjah, and branch campuses including Heriot-Watt University Dubai, Amity University Dubai and the University of Wollongong in Dubai.
Khaleej Times reported on 17 June 2026 that four more institutions had joined, taking the total to 42: Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, Sharjah Maritime Academy, Imam Malik College for Sharia and Law, and Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai. For graduates of listed institutions, degree equivalency is in effect settled at graduation. Graduates of other licensed UAE institutions use the ministry’s separate recognition service for UAE-issued qualifications.
For a registrar or HR team, the practical effect is that an equivalency certificate UAE graduates of listed institutions hold may be a QR-verified record rather than a separate application outcome.
The school equivalency certificate UAE students need
For school leavers, the equivalency certificate UAE universities ask for comes from the Ministry of Education, not MoHESR. The government portal states that the “Ministry of Education is authorised to equalise high school certificates in the UAE”. According to that page, applicants must be UAE residents, prove identity with copies of their Emirates ID and passport, and submit original certificates, mainly for grades 10, 11 and 12, which are returned after verification.
Certificates must be attested by the Ministry of Education and/or the education authority of the issuing country. Those issued abroad in a language other than Arabic or English must be legally translated and attested. Applications can be made in person at ministry offices in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, or online. Required documents vary with the curriculum the student completed.
Graduates of licensed UAE private schools teaching a non-ministry curriculum also need this school equivalency certificate. UAE universities rely on it at admission. The ministry’s guide for 2024 to 2025 requires Muslim students to pass Islamic Studies and Arab students to pass Arabic Language in grades 10, 11 and 12, and the school must be licensed and accredited by the certifying authority. Its main curriculum conditions are:
| Curriculum | Main condition in the 2024 to 2025 guide |
|---|---|
| American | Grades 10, 11 and 12 with at least five subjects per grade, each passed at D or 60%; minimum test scores listed for TOEFL iBT (61), IELTS Academic (5.0) and SAT I Math (450) |
| British | Five GCSE or IGCSE passes (A* to E, or 9 to 3) plus two AS subjects or one A level; or a BTEC Level 3 route |
| IB | IB Diploma; or six subjects at grade 3 or above totalling at least 21, including English, mathematics and a science |
| Canadian, Australian | A graduation diploma issued by a recognised province, state or territory |
| French | Diplôme du Baccalauréat Général |
| Other systems | Grades 10, 11 and 12 passed, plus the curriculum’s graduation certificate or diploma |
The guide exempted 2024/2025 grade 12 American curriculum graduates from the English proficiency and SAT tests. Indian board certificates fall under the “other systems” heading, as the guide names no Indian curriculum.
Attestation comes before Ministry of Higher Education equivalency
For certificates earned abroad, universities treat attestation as a separate step that must come before any equivalency certificate UAE application. The University of Birmingham Dubai tells applicants that both attestation and equivalency are required, with attestation completed first.
Its guidance lists the usual chain: certification by the issuing university or education authority and a local notary; a stamp from the foreign ministry in the country of study; attestation by a UAE embassy there, or by the home country’s embassy in the UAE; then the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Where the middle steps are not feasible, it says certificates “may be verified against originals” by UAE embassies and the ministry. This chain sits alongside the Ministry of Higher Education equivalency check, which verifies the degree directly with the awarding institution or a verifier.
Equivalency certificate UAE timing rules at universities
Universities usually allow provisional admission while degree equivalency is pending, within a fixed limit. Heriot-Watt University Dubai gives students one semester and says certificates must be uploaded “no later than the end of your first semester”, or enrolment may be withdrawn. It exempts applicants whose bachelor’s degree is from a CAA-licensed university in the UAE.
Birmingham Dubai requires a written agreement with a maximum of one semester to obtain equivalency, and warns that non-compliance “may result in the termination of the student’s enrolment”. The American University of Sharjah lets applicants still awaiting a decision enrol for the first semester if they sign its Graduate Admission Contract.
The common thread is that an equivalency certificate UAE universities accept late does not pause the clock: the student carries the risk if the ministry’s decision does not arrive within the semester.
Equivalency certificate UAE: points for institutions and employers
- Foreign degrees are recognised by MoHESR under Ministerial Decree No. 34 of 2025; school certificates by the Ministry of Education.
- Recognition depends on a genuine qualification and an awarding institution licensed and accredited at the time the degree was issued.
- Recognition can be revoked if those conditions later prove unmet, and suspected fraud is referred to law enforcement.
- Graduates of the 38 institutions named by MoHESR in April 2026 receive recognition automatically, with QR verification.
- University admissions offices commonly allow one semester for an outstanding equivalency.
Because the ministry has changed the process twice since 2023, the version of the rules any applicant meets is the one in force on the date of application. Anyone relying on an older equivalency certificate UAE checklist should compare it with the current MoHESR service page.
